Catalog (358)

This doll is from a collection in Maine. She is stockinette that was originally early polished cotton and was recovered 50 t0 75 years ago. So she is all original just recovered. This is not that uncommon if the doll was valued it was repaired. Old black fabric dye had iron oxide that was corrosive and weaken fabric. It is why this face has some holes. Her face has beautiful embroidery, the nose has to be the fanciest I have ever seen. She has shoe button eyes and pieces of white linen tacked on...

A wonderful fine homespun linen doll with watercolor/ink drawn features and blue eyes to die for. The drawing of her eyelashes is so tiny I needed a magnifying glass to see them. She is 14” tall, body is all original and firmly stuffed with cotton. Her legs are jointed, feet nicely formed, and her hands have stitched defined fingers. Condition is great other than some age related staining on her face. At some point she must have had shoes sewn on to her feet, now all that remain of them are th...

This is a very nice painted face cloth doll with an all original body. The back of her head is painted brown and then a black painted strip around her face to suggest she has black hair. She is hand sewn except for her stitched defined fingers. She is 23" tall. I don't believe any of her clothes are original but are antique and they look like have been on her a while. She is stuffed with cotton and has a nice feel but is not a real heavy doll. She has a look of competence, I even bet her bed was...

A fine embroidered face, bead eye, pelt hair black doll from the coast of Maine. Her face and body are made from a very nice black linen cloth that has lightened a little with age. She is stuffed with cotton, jointed at the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees allowing her to sit easily, her head is firmly on her shoulders...no wabble. She is wearing an beige and blue print early dress that is age appropriate but not original to her. She is from Down Maine and I think her face and pelt hair kind of...

Sometimes a doll can be appreciated for the marvel of the maker and the caretakers of a doll. She has had loving hands restore her body more than once with really skilled hands. Her body is fashioned like a leather body but there is no leather under this doll's layers of jersey, cotton, linen and maybe a little wool. Her body is so interesting that she would look good exhibited without clothes. She is very firmly stuffed with rags. Her simplistic face is adorable with bead eyes a protruding nose...

Extremely early bedpost doll with carved features. She is 13" tall, with very nice turnings. She has attached cloth arms that are old but not original. At least one older tack remains from the earlier arms. She is solid, heavy, no worm holes, but there are a few nail holes near the base on one side. She is wearing a very early dress that is woven rather than printed. It is hand sewn and from the same time frame but my guess is that it is not original. Her hair is tacked on and is not as old as ...

This doll has a regal look and feel about her. Her body is black sateen and is very nicely constructed. The embroidered face is very nicely done with the whites of her eye very prominent with a nice black border around the white. Her nose is embroidered with black also but it is a blue black so it is visible. She has astrakhan hair that is nicely sewn on. She is stuffed fairly firmly with cotton and maybe rags. She is 23" tall and is dressed as I bought her. The dress is age appropriate and her ...

This is an amazing home made black boy doll with the sweetest face, the best posture and corn cob legs. He feels like he has a solid wood inner core. I bet the maker of this boy was pleased as punch to find a good use for a couple of old corn cobs. His face is finely embroidered and has a contoured brow and cheeks, a raised nose, jet bead eyes, embroidered eyebrows, whites of eyes, nose and mouth with teeth. He has raveled yarn hair that is wonderful and it really suits him. His hands are stit...

This is a big old fashion linen homespun rag doll with a great pencil face. She has wear and recovering on her arms and legs. Her face is a very old recover that is also real homespun linen. The back of her head is amazing, see picture to appreciate this great old doll. She is rag stuffed and very heavy. She has funny replaced feet. She is not jointed at her hips but from years of forced sitting she will sit. She is as found and is wearing a period two piece blue polka dot dress. She is a big sw...

This fine black doll is in wonderful condition. Her face is embroidered and her eyes are jet buttons that are very effective and her hair is astrakhan (lambs wool used for trim on coats in the late 1800's). Her arms are attached at her shoulders, her legs are continuous but she sits easily. She is wearing an early black skirt, a black calico dress over the skirt, and then a red apron/skirt over the dress. Her arms and legs have been recovered at some point but show wear and age so they have been...

The construction and the hand sewing on this doll is amazing. The hands and feet have stitch defined fingers and toes. The features are drawn with watercolor paint. Her nose is a raised pinched nose and for that type of nose this is the best one I have seen. Her hair maybe be real or horse hair but it is lovely and hand sewn in place and then a someone has saved it with a very fine hair net around the bottom. She has got a little sweet turned down mouth that is a more set look and sad. I think s...

This charming character painted face cloth doll looks so proper. She has a great face that has many coats of white paint. She has blue eyes, applied nose and a tiny black line for her mouth. From her elbow down her arms and painted white and her legs from the knees down are painted black. Her body is very nicely constructed and is stuffed just right for holding. I didn't try very hard to get off her pantaloons, someone worked very getting them over her painted legs but her body is all original. ...

Here face is hard to read, her eyes are big round buttons, her nose is one with her eyebrows, her mouth is a V turned upside down, and two circles on either side of her head for ears. She is big and rag stuffed heavy, (I love that). On the top of her head is a braided top knot in the shape of a donut. She is 28" tall, all original except her her clothes that are old and look good on her. So many cloth dolls, all made with cloth and some imagination, can be so different and look so wonderful C. ...

A wonderful character cloth doll that just might be one of the earliest selfies. I can imagine a grandmother making a doll in her likeness to give to a child that is not living close by but loves her Grammy. This doll has a face created by using same color thread and string to sew on the face for knotted string eyes, applied nose and a golden floss for her mouth. She is made with a heavy cotton homespun and is stuffed with a grain. She is very heavy. She has a stick from the top of her head that...

A black cloth doll with lots of assets. This doll has a very nice embroidered face, the clothes are fabulous, (including pantaloons, petticoat, skirt blouse,apron, lace shawl), her hair is deerskin hide, her socks are hand made with a different color yarn on the sole to make it look like a shoes and she is 20" tall. She is firmly stuffed with cotton. She sits but resists a little so she would sit on an upholstered chair but would tend to slip on a wooden surface. I have had her sitting on a woo...

This doll has a very early body and was recovered from the waist up in the late 1800's. She feels like she has another face under this one but this has been on there so long I wouldn't want to take it off. She has layers of petticoats and then bloomers all under her blue and white period dress. She is heavy and stuffed with rags and maybe some cotton. She has a pencil face with shoe button eyes. She doesn't look like she ever had hair. She is fully jointed and sits great. Her hands have fingers ...

Antique cloth doll with a bold painted face, black eyes and eyebrows, worried black eyes, red rosy cheeks and staight serious mouth. Her body is curvy and cotton stuffed with arms and legs that are jointed so she sits easily. The dress is a calico print with little heart and flower design in a deep pink and brown colors. Over the dress is a blue check apron and blue checked bonnet on her head. She has mitten hands with stitch defined fingers. Her clothes are all antique. She is from Pennsylvania...

Not all black dolls have black bodies. Some of the best dolls I have had were dolls that the maker took an old rag doll and gave the doll a black head. In the Jim Crow era, it became common in the north for mothers to teach their children about the plight of African Americans, by making a black doll for them. So mothers even ones that were not really skilled at sewing were making black dolls. Putting a black covering over a rag doll was one of the easiest ways. This is one of those dolls black h...